Mass Effect: Rookie in Cerberus
by Antoman099
Summary: Laura Thompson has recently been hired into Cerberus. She assumed the job would be from behind a computer at a desk, but she had certainly signed on for far more than she had originally bargained for.


**Mass Effect: Rookie in Cerberus**

_All rights reserved for Bioware and the other owners of the Mass Effect game series_

Laura Thompson stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. It stared back at her with nervous eyes, hands shaking rapidly as it was barely able to hold a comb. She stared into that mirror for minutes, mouthing "It will go well, it will go well" repeatedly, trying to calm herself and slow her rapid breathing.

One couldn't just expect her to go into her new position and expect that she would be completely cool about it. She hadn't gotten more than a minute's rest the night before; all that time was spent wide-eyed staring at the bedroom ceiling, thoughts of how the first day would play out constantly rolling through her head.

She had barely kept it together for the interview. It had taken all her effort just to keep herself from sweating in front of the interviewer. She had been constantly thinking; _is it hot in here? It feels hot. Is there something in my teeth? Is she judging me harshly? Of course she is, she's one of their top officers. Do I sound as nervous as I feel? Maybe I should feign sickness – maybe I should just faint. Just fall on the floor. The interviewer can't do anything, right? Just 'oops, she's on the floor, get the nurse'._

To her complete surprise she had passed the interview. She remembered being so ecstatic, so grateful to work for such a fine organization. At the current moment, she couldn't remember what such a feeling would even feel like. Why had she even taken the job? The question seemed so obvious to her at that moment; she really should have been asking herself that very question when she had been looking at the job description on the holo-add originally. Now all she could do was go to her new job and hope that all went well.

Once Laura had finally settled down, it only took her a mere twenty minutes to comb and stylize her bold, auburn hair. Still, it was a miracle that she was able to successfully apply her facial additions – makeup, lipstick, eyeliner, etc. – without any sort of mishaps. She stared into the mirror one last time. She was a fairly tan woman of about twenty three, her eyes almost as bold as her hair, though of a deep-blue color. She made sure to stand completely upright and trying to appear confidant. She was practicing for the first day at work, since she knew for sure that she wouldn't feel the _least_ bit confidant when she was actually there.

After a long shuttle ride of staring out the window as the driver told stories that she didn't pay attention to, Laura had finally arrived at her destination. She tried her best not to appear as a deer in the headlights, acting as though she actually knew her way around. It didn't help that all the eyes in the room were staring at her. Or maybe they weren't, but she sure did feel that the focus of the room was her. Laura attempted to hold a smile, but she couldn't hold back nervous quivers at the ends of her lips.

_This isn't going well; maybe I should turn around and leave. Say I caught the flu, or something. But I came here anyway…maybe I could say I didn't feel the symptoms until I was here? No, I would sound stupid. Maybe I could say I have some sort of emergency? Or maybe I could just bring fainting back as an option. Oh, what should I-_

"Ms. Thompson!" Came a voice from down the hallway, tearing Laura away from her stressful thoughts. The woman's accent was somewhat heavy, which was what allowed Laura to immediately identify the woman as her interviewer. She flashed her boss a white smile as a bead of sweat threatened to crawl down her forehead.

The woman finally made her way up to Laura, placing a hand reassuringly on her shoulder. "Ready to get to work, Ms. Thompson?"

Laura nodded, feigning a look of eagerness. "Yes, Ms. Lawson."


End file.
